Hamas

Israel Approves Major West Bank Settlement Project

Israel approved a major settlement project on Wednesday in an area of the West Bank that the international community has warned threatens the viability of a future Palestinian state. Israel has long had ambitions to build on the roughly 12-square-kilometre (five-square-mile) parcel known as E1 just east of Jerusalem, but the plan had been ...

Macron Says Israel's Gaza Offensive Will Lead to 'Disaster'

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that Israel's "military offensive" to conquer Gaza City "can only lead to a complete disaster for both peoples," after Israel's defense minister authorized the call-up of around 60,000 reservists. Israel's plan "will drag the region into a permanent war," the French president posted on social media, ...

Israel Recalls 60,000 Reservists Ahead of Offensive on Gaza City

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz approved on Tuesday tmilitary plans to launch an offensive aimed at taking control of Gaza City, Israeli media reported. The operation, named "Gideon’s Chariots B," includes the mobilization of an additional 60,000 reservists in the coming days. According to security sources cited by the Times of Israel, ...

Israel Demands Release of all Hostages After Hamas Backs New Truce Offer

      A senior Israeli official on Tuesday said the government stood firm on its call for the release of all hostages in any future Gaza ceasefire deal, after Hamas accepted a new truce proposal. Mediators are awaiting an official Israeli response to the plan, a day after Hamas signalled its readiness for a fresh round of talks ...

Mediators Await Israeli Response to New Truce Offer

Mediators were awaiting an Israeli response Tuesday to a fresh Gaza ceasefire plan, a day after Hamas accepted the proposal and signalled its readiness for a new round of talks aimed at ending nearly two years of war. The foes have held on-and-off indirect negotiations throughout the war resulting in two short truces and the releases of Israeli ...

Hamas Agrees to New Gaza Ceasefire Proposal

Hamas has accepted a new ceasefire proposal for Gaza, a senior member from the group said Monday, after a fresh diplomatic push to end more than 22 months of war. Mediators Egypt and Qatar, backed by the United States, have struggled to secure a lasting truce in the conflict, which has triggered a dire humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. But ...

Terrorists' Brinkmanship

The riddled negotiations taking place in Lebanon and Gaza and the equivocations of the Syrian transition are quite compelling since they convey the ambiguities undermining political stability in these different environments. Nonetheless, they illustrate the difficulties of political transitioning in countries partially or totally controlled by ...

Mass Rally in Tel Aviv Calls for End to Gaza War, Hostage Deal

Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered on Sunday evening in Tel Aviv to call for an end to the war in Gaza and the release of hostages, one of the largest demonstrations in Israel since the start of the fighting in October 2023. The rally was the culmination of a day of nationwide protests and a general strike to pressure the government to ...

At Least 18 Killed in Gaza as Israel Prepares Major Offensive

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 18 Palestinians on Sunday, including seven people shot dead while waiting to collect food aid. Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that seven people were killed in an Israeli drone strike that hit a hospital courtyard in Gaza City, in the territory's ...

Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Fire Kills 39

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli attacks killed at least 39 people on Saturday, as the Israeli military hinted at an approaching call to push civilians from Gaza City ahead of a new offensive. The latest toll comes more than a week after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to capture the Palestinian territory's largest ...

UN Says at Least 1,760 Killed While Seeking Aid in Gaza Since Late May

The UN human rights office said Friday that at least 1,760 Palestinians had been killed while seeking aid in Gaza since late May, a jump of several hundred since its last published figure at the beginning of August. "Since 27 May, and as of 13 August, we have recorded that at least 1,760 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid; 994 in the ...

Macron Vows to Punish Antisemitic 'Hatred' After Memorial Tree Cut Down

The cutting down of an olive tree planted in memory of a young French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006 stirred outrage in France on Friday, with President Emmanuel Macron vowing punishment over an act of antisemitic "hatred". Politicians across the political spectrum condemned the act as an attack against the memory of Ilan Halimi, who was ...